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Doctors don’t have the time to tell you everything about a drug. Patient information leaflets leave out a lot. Even if the PI sheet covers everything the language is so dense and obtuse that the good stuff is often lost in information overload. Most meds have something interesting about them.

If this page is the only source of information you use in deciding which med to take for your condition, you’re a complete idiot and/or crazier than you or anyone else suspects.

1.  Invega’s (paliperidone’s) Pros

  • Far fewer drug-drug interactions than Risperdal.
  • Between the lessened metabolization by the liver (most of Invega gets pissed away) and its being packaged in an OROS trilayer capsule, the people in the trials reported far fewer tummy troubles. Not much from the field. What has been reported confirms what is on the PI sheet, you are less likely to puke with Invega than anything else you’ll see listed on Crazy Meds.
  • You have to take it only once a day, compared with taking Risperdal one to four times a day.
  • No titration is needed, in that you don’t have to work up to the recommended dosage.

2.  Invega’s (paliperidone’s) Cons

  • Invega comes in four dosages: 1.5mg, 3mg, 6mg and 9mg. Thus you have a lot less wiggle room when it comes to fine-tuning your dosage than you do with Risperdal.
  • While Risperdal tablets are small, Invega tablets are about the size of a multivitamin. So if you have trouble swallowing larger tablets (e.g. Depakote, Keppra, Neurontin 800mg tablets, and the larger dosages of Seroquel) you might have problems taking Invega.
  • As you should never, ever cut an extended-release tablet of any medication, you can’t get a price break on buying the 6mg tablets and splitting them in half as you can with buying larger dosage tablets of Risperdal and splitting them in half. Let alone to try to help you swallow them.
  • Invega is just way more expensive than Risperdal. As many doctors are subject to “if a drug is new it must be better” syndrome, you may be better off with Risperdal, or even a dirt-cheap standard antipsychotic than Invega.

3.  Interesting Stuff Your Doctor Probably won’t Tell You about Invega (paliperidone)

The capsule will pass out looking whole so don’t be surprised by that - it’s what OROS does. Like many of the other atypical antipsychotics, Invega can cause QT interval prolongation. Also, in the clinical trials 12% - 14% of patients receiving Invega reported tachycardia (rapid heartbeat). So if you have a history of heart problems Invega probably isn’t a good idea. Otherwise if you develop cardiac wackiness, an EKG / ECG is a good idea to find out if you have something that is a problem or just annoying.

‹ Expanded Approved & Off-label Uses | Invega Index | Expanded Side Effects ›
Crazy Meds Comprehensive Invega pages


Date created 10 Jun 2011 - 17:09 Page Creator: girrl88 Last edited by:


Invega Expanded Pros, Cons, and Interesting Stuff is copyright 2011 girrl88

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Almost all of the material on this site is copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Jerod Poore. Except, of course, the PI sheets - those are the property of the drug companies who developed the drugs the sheets are about - and any documents that are written by other people which may be posted to this site will remain the property of the original authors. You cannot reproduce this page or any other material on this site outside of the boundaries of fair use copying without the express permission of the copyright holder. That’s usually me, so just ask first. That means if want to print out a few pages to take to your doctor, therapist, counselor, support group, non-understanding family members or something like that - then that’s OK to just do. Go for it! Please. As long as you include this copyright notice and the following disclaimer, I’m usually cool with it.

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